The Board of Wine Australia has suspended the export licence of Daleford Wines (Australia) Pty Ltd, meaning the company is not able to export any grape products from Australia.
The suspension comes in with immediate effect and will be in place until further notice, as Wine Australia seeks further information from Dalefold Wines before deciding the length of the suspension and considering whether the licence should be cancelled.
In announcing the decision to suspend Daleford’s licence, Wine Australia said that it had collected and reviewed information “in relation to a consignment of wine exported by Dalefold Wines on 20 June 2018 and other related matters”.
In reporting its findings into the investigation, Wine Australia said it had suspended Daleford Wines’ licence, after finding that:
“Dalefold Wines has exported three grape products from Australia that were not approved by Wine Australia and for which an export certificate was not in force. Accordingly, Dalefold Wines has contravened section 44 of the Wine Australia Act 2013 and the Wine Australia Regulations 2018.
“Dalefold Wines has engaged in activity that aims to leverage from the reputation of another wine brand in China through causing consumer confusion to the extent that is likely to:
- adversely affect the export trade in all grape products from Australia by diminishing consumer confidence in the integrity and authenticity of Australian grape products in China
- have a deleterious effect on the successful promotion of the export of grape products from Australia by diminishing consumer confidence in the integrity and authenticity of Australian grape products in China, and
- cause harm to the reputation of all Australian grape products, relations with importers, current promotional strategies, consumer sentiment in relation to exported Australian grape products, or the marketability of Australian grape products relative to competitors.
“Dalefold Wines is not a fit and proper person for the purposes of section 9(3)(g) of the Wine Australia Regulations 2018.”
Angus McPherson, TWE’s ANZ Managing Director, welcomed the decision, saying: “This is a win for the Australian wine industry. We applaud the efforts of Wine Australia in taking action to protect the reputation of the industry and its brands, in light of new export regulations that came into effect earlier this year.”
This is the first licence that Wine Australia has cancelled since 2015 and the first since new regulatory powers were introduced in April this year. Those regulation changes also mean that other exporters may not export wine on behalf of Dalefold Wines now that its licence has been suspended.
Dalefold Wines may make an application to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of this decision in accordance with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1995. The prescribed time for making an application under the Act is 28 days.